Remembering
by LeiaOrganicSolo
Summary: A bouquet of pink roses are clenched tightly in his hands, his fingers are shaking from the force of which he is holding them. The thorns are sharp, like small daggers tearing through his skin; he doesn't feel the pain. /takes place after Unwound Future/


***SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER* **

**Well, can't say I didn't warn you. MAJOR spoiler for Professor Layton and the Unwound Future. Do NOT read if you haven't completed the game's storyline yet. Seriously. DON'T BE A SPOILER READER KIDDES. NOBODY WILL BE YOUR FRIEND.**

**EVER.**

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**Okay, so if you're reading this, it means you understand that up ahead lies spoilers. Okay? Got it? Good. **

**A mystery couple, whom I keep secret until the end-ish.**

**Yeah. I'm a rebel.**

**Enjoy and review.  
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"Hello. We haven't seen each other in a while, have we? But I suppose that's my fault. Too many cases, so little time."

Pause.

"But I brought you flowers." A bouquet of pink roses are clenched tightly in his hands, his fingers are shaking from the force of which he is holding them. The thorns are sharp, like small daggers tearing through his skin; he doesn't feel the pain. Crimson blood drips from his fingers, onto the pure, white snow at his feet. "They're roses, your favorite." With a tight jaw he sets them down. His blood is beginning to stain the flowers, its dark, rich pigment spreading across the pink petals.

It's quiet again. Removing his hat with trembling fingers he musters up the courage to continue.

"I think of you all the time you know. Some days more than others." He chuckles softly; his breath comes out as a white mist. "I heard a bird chirping today. It was a cardinal, I think. Reminded me of when we decorated the apartment for the holidays, and you sang along to every song on the radio."

A small smile graces his handsome features. "I could have listened to you sing all day."

The smile began to melt away. "But then you had to go to the lab because Dr. Hawks had made a new discovery and needed you."

He sighs.

"You didn't get home until around midnight, if my memory serves me correctly. You always did arrive home late, and I hated it."

But just being with you afterwards always made up for it."

He looks up as the snow continues to fall.

"That was the first and last Christmas we spent together. That day will always be my greatest memory, asides from the day I first saw you on campus." His cheeks are beginning to flush from the cold. "But do you remember the mistletoe? I must say, I don't even recall you hanging it up."

Another chuckle. "But I did enjoy it. Did you?"

A branch from a tree above begin to sway.

He sighs again; tears are beginning to well in his dark eyes. "It's not very gentlemanly to dwell on things like that, is it?" Then he nods, as though he heard an inaudible reply. "Yes well, even the most courteous gentleman can be infatuated with a lovely lady such as yourself."

He swallows hard.

"You're so beautiful." A single tear is slowly rolling down his cheek. "And I miss you so much."

He takes a deep, shuddering breath, unwilling to let anymore tears fall. "We had it all planned love, didn't we? We always thought we knew what would happen, that we would grow old together." He forces a laugh. "Remember when you admitted to me that you wanted a baby boy, with my nose?" He smiles. "And I said I wanted a little girl with your eyes?"

Wind sweeps through the small graveyard; the man shivers from the cold. "You have beautiful eyes."

"I was going to _propose_ to you love. The day you went to the lab; I was going to ask you to marry me." He's crying silently now, ignoring as the tears freeze and stick to his cheeks.

"I had the ring and everything. Made sure the University paid me in advance so I could pay buy a good ring, a ring you could be proud of. I know you hate when I spend money on you, but you're worth it. You're always worth it. You're so _beautiful_," he repeats.

"And then I heard the explosion. It shook the windows of our apartment love, the blast carried all the way to our _apartment_! And I knew it was from your lab, deep down I just knew. My instincts, one could say." His voice hitches. "And I _ran_ my dear. I've never ran so fast in my life. But when I got there, the police-" he swallows hard. "The police wouldn't let anyone inside. But I just wanted to know that you were _alright_." His voice is breaking, but he forces himself to continue. "I just wanted to see you _alive_. I wanted you to be okay. And afterwards, the firemen and the paramedics and the police search the entire area, and they had found you, up in your office, alone. And then they carried you outside into the chaos." Suddenly he breaks, and the normally quiet man begins to shout.

"They carried out your_ body Claire_!" Professor Hershel Layton sobs. "They brought you out, bloody and broken and there was _nothing I could do Claire!_" He falls to his knees; the wet snow is seeping through his pants and shoes. He doesn't care. The cold means nothing, the pain makes it a merely a word, only a sound. "Your glasses love, the blast had shattered your glasses. And your beautiful blue eyes, oh Lord _your eyes_. They were open when the explosion occurred. But your glasses-"

Suddenly he can't speak, all he can do is sob.

"I love you so much Claire. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you! Our future- Our future isn't what we thought it would be, love. You were right, it's become unwound. It's not what we had hoped for."

The sobs in his throat begin to slow. The professor takes a deep, quivering breath.

"And I still miss you Claire. I just want to hold you in my arms again."

His trembling fingers reach out and brush snow off of the cold, gray headstone. Through his blurred vision he can barely make out the engraved words.

Hershel bows his head in sorrow. "I love you Claire. I always have, and I'll never stop.

I miss you so much Claire. I miss you, and our unwound future."

_Claire Folly_

_1914-1949_

_Life is eternal, and love is immortal,_

_and death is only a horizon;_

_and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight._

_**~fin~**  
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_Dedicated to anyone and everyone who's ever lost someone._

**~LeiaOrganicSolo**


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